[Formula: see text] The mathematical word problem-solving performance gap between children with and without math...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Working memory (WM) is crucial for complex cognitive tasks like word-problem-solving (WPS).
• Children with math difficulties (MD) often exhibit WM deficits, impacting their academic performance.
• Understanding the role of WM in WPS outcomes is vital for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the moderating and mediating roles of WM in WPS instructional outcomes for children with and without MD.
• To compare the effects of different strategy instructions on WPS accuracy.
• To examine how WM influences the differences in WPS performance between children with and without MD.

Main Methods:

• A randomized pretest-posttest control group design was employed.
• Third graders with and without MD (N=207) participated in an 8-week strategy instruction study.
• Four treatment conditions were compared: three strategy variations and two control groups.

Main Results:

• Posttest WM predicted WPS, computation, and schema accuracy independently.
• WM mediated WPS treatment outcomes when control groups included children without MD.
• Overt cues in strategy instruction reduced WM demands for children with MD.
• Attention allocation training improved WM but not WPS in children with MD.

Conclusions:

• WM plays a significant mediating role in WPS outcomes for children with MD.
• Instructional strategies that reduce WM load may benefit children with MD.
• WM differences underlie WPS performance disparities between children with and without MD.